“Subsidiarity” is a core tenet of Catholic social teaching that has guided the church’s response to technological upheavals for almost a century. theconversation.com/the-catholic...

The Catholic principle guiding popes through tech upheavals, from the Industrial Revolution to AI

Pope Leo is one of many popes to respond to technological change by drawing on a Catholic principle called ‘subsidiarity.’

theconversation.com

What if Homer never wrote the Odyssey—and "Homer" was a legend invented long after the poem itself?

Who was Homer, author of the Odyssey?

When the Odyssey first began to circulate in ancient Greece, no one knew its author. So how did ‘Homer’ become the name on the book’s cover?

theconversation.com

Today I am remembering with gratitude the life and musical contributions of film composer Victor Young on his birthday (August 8, 1899 – November 10, 1956). You can see some of his most famous film scores in the second image.

What's with the boom in biographies of people who never existed? lareviewofbooks.org/article/fict...

Character Study | Los Angeles Review of Books

The burgeoning field of fiction character biographies.

lareviewofbooks.org

The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. (Franklin D. Roosevelt)

If you’ve ever been told Catholics believe in “works salvation” or Protestants in “cheap grace,” this is an attempt at a more honest, nuanced map. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Justification and Sanctification

The Deep We Disagreements, Part 3

open.substack.com

When early humans first painted cave walls, they began to find out who they really were: our minds emerged from our images. At least that's what J F Martel says.

Humans did not invent art. It was the other way around | Aeon Essays

When early humans first painted cave walls, they began to find out who they really were: our minds emerged from our images

aeon.co

“In America, Bonhoeffer found a people that treasured freedom above all else and mentioned it as often as possible. The tragedy of the American church, Bonhoeffer determined, was that it did not know what true freedom was.” — Amy Mantravadi in Plough www.plough.com/articles/bon...

Bonhoeffer’s Message to America | Plough

Bonhoeffer determined that America did not know what true freedom was.

plough.com

"Sonny Rollins was the last feral master of an art that has become at least partly domesticated". www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/...

Let Everything Change | Nate Wooley

I became a Sonny Rollins fan on my 13th birthday, when my dad took me for the first time to his favorite record store in Portland, Oregon. He gave me $50, which in 1987, netted me twelve LPs. One was ...

nplusonemag.com

Read widely.

New in The Deep We — Disagreements: a look at how different traditions talk about sacraments and ordinances, and what that says about their view of grace and matter. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the Shared Table

The Deep We, Part 9

open.substack.com

What we lost when we lost the video store clerk: The quirky sensibility of the movie geek has been replaced by the algorithm. thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-lost-civ...

The Lost Civic Life of Movie Rental Stores

Decades before recommendation algorithms, video stores served as social hubs where conversation and camaraderie became a form of taste-making.

thereader.mitpress.mit.edu

The road to World War I was paved not only by politicians and generals, but by the conversations unfolding in Vienna's cafés and Belgrade's kafanas. aeon.co/essays/vienn...

More than a history of buildings, this is a story about how America's confidence, abundance, and appetite for reinvention left their mark on every city and suburb. www.thenation.com/article/cult...

What Makes American Architecture American?

It’s never been afraid to play fast and loose and big.

thenation.com

“He who goes about to reform the world must begin with himself, or he loses his labor.” — St. Ignatius of Loyola

The State Department said ​it takes "full responsibility" for "hastily" altering and then presenting a map of Africa at a global AIDS conference that mislabeled every single country it highlighted. A watermark in the map image suggests it was made with OpenAI. www.reuters.com/world/africa...

US government map of Africa mislabels every country at global conference

A U.S. government map of Africa mislabeled every country during a State Department presentation at ‌a global conference taking place in Brazil this week, causing a stir among attendees who took screen...

reuters.com

The Church has always communicated. The question is whether marketing is the best word for what we're doing. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Words don't just describe reality—they teach us how to see it. Tomorrow I'll be reflecting on a question that has been lingering in my mind for weeks: Should the Church stop talking about marketing? Whether you agree or disagree, I hope the question sparks a worthwhile conversation.

What happens when a language disappears—not because it's banned, but because it's no longer needed?

Our Amish Language — The Dial

As my community modernized, we used Pennsylvania Dutch less and less. Now I'm trying to preserve it.

thedial.world

The digital world promised freedom—but what if it quietly taught us to love our own captivity? www.thenewatlantis.com/publications...

Why Is Digital Freedom Making Us Exhausted and Sad?

From “The Burnout Society” to “The Tonality of Thought,” tech philosopher Byung-Chul Han’s ultra-short books reveal why online liberation has felt more like voluntary captivity.

thenewatlantis.com

No, the em dash isn't a ChatGPT giveaway—it's a longstanding punctuation mark that good writers (and the AP Stylebook) have used for decades, though like any stylistic device, it works best in moderation. www.apstylebook.com/blog_posts/2...

AP Stylebook blog posts

The AP Stylebook is a writing and editing reference for newsrooms, classrooms and corporate offices worldwide. AP Stylebook Online builds on everything that’s in the print Stylebook, and makes it a mo...

apstylebook.com

This week's essay is about attention, formation, vocation, and the kind of person I'm trying to become. open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...

Lately I've found myself returning to the same themes over and over: presence, attentiveness, beauty, formation, communication, and discipleship. Tomorrow I'll explain why I don't think that's accidental—and what I believe God may actually be calling me toward.

While AI can finally solve the frustrating portrait-versus-landscape mismatch by expanding images instead of cropping them, the technology also blurs the line between editing and fabrication, raising serious ethical concerns. open.substack.com/pub/pogueman...

Can AI Fix the Portrait vs. Landscape Problem?

Because right now, it's a freakin' nightmare.

open.substack.com

A Canadian politician has been caught reading what appears to be an AI chatbot prompt aloud during a speech to his province's legislature, after apparently failing to notice it had been left in his notes. arstechnica.com/ai/2026/07/c...

Canadian legislator reads out apparent LLM response in floor speech

Here’s a more natural, flowing version of that section..."

arstechnica.com

What if your biggest mistakes aren't caused by bad thinking, but by thinking on autopilot? New research suggests the right kind of mindfulness can help you catch the hidden mental biases shaping your decisions before they take over. aeon.co/essays/can-m...

A psychotherapist blocked social media during family hours, and it transformed her home life. Somehow, relying less on willpower and more on clear boundaries made her calmer, more present, and more connected to her children and husband. www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

The one change that worked: I banned myself from social media – and my children have never been happier

I used to think my phone helped me to relax. But setting strict limits on my usage has improved my mood and my relationships

theguardian.com

Why does God gather a people at all? My new essay follows that question through Calvin, Westminster, Vos, Kuyper, Bavinck, Barth, and Newbigin.

open.substack.com/pub/judsonta...